French Country homes blend elegance and grace with rustic warmth and comfort. This architectural style comes from the rural, rolling hills of the French countryside, and effortlessly blends the Old World grandeur of a château with the modesty and ease of a farmhouse. French Country homes often include soft lines, curved arches, and hearty stonework, both inside and out. True provincial estates often developed over time, with additions and expansions constructed as necessary, leading to an asymmetrical shape and an eclectic yet elegant approach to decor that feels comfortable and sincere.

A focus on a gourmet kitchen and an ambling lavender or herb garden is more than appropriate here, as this style of home invites you to slow down and savor. Smooth plaster walls, exposed rafters and wood beams, and tall arched windows with shutters are common in French Country homes, along with cream painted distressed furniture and wall treatments, as this style is all about feeling perfectly worn in. Floors can be patterned terra-cotta tiles or signature wood parquet or chevron, and deep-set fireplaces with limestone mantels anchor living spaces. Lighter colored stone or stucco is traditional for the exterior, with tile roofs and palettes drawn from nature. This style of home exudes effortless warmth for generations to come, with a feel that is both refined and rustic.

Prairie School architecture developed as a consciously and authentically American design style in the late 19th and early 20th century, with roots in Chicago and the Midwest. Pioneered by young designers including Louis H. Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, the style was concerned with solid, sincere craftsmanship and a harmonious integration with nature, created by echoing the landscape with horizontal and organic lines.

The mother art is architecture. Without an architecture of our own we have no soul of our own civilization.

— Frank Lloyd Wright

Although singularly American, Prairie style does share many of the design philosophies and ideals of the Arts & Crafts movement, including a focus on simplicity and handcrafting as a reaction against mass production and assembly lines. Prairie homes are intentionally wide and low to reflect the American landscape, which was viewed as more open and undeveloped compared to the crowded European cities. Wright and his contemporaries wanted it to feel as though the home grew from its environment naturally.

Prairie style features:

- Strong horizontal emphasis, goal of integrating the home with nature in an organic manner

- Ranch style is common, as are two-story homes with single story wings

No house should ever be on a hill or on anything. It should be of the hill. Belonging to it. Hill and house should live together each the happier for the other.

— Frank Lloyd Wright

This style features flat or hipped roofs with broad, overhanging eaves and windows assembled in horizontal bands. Interiors reflect the same principles, with earthy color palettes, along with fixtures and furniture that are often custom crafted. Prairie homes evoke a sense of peace and tranquility, with open floor plans and plenty of natural light. Ornamentation is minimal and thoughtful, with leaded windows and stained glass featuring geometric nature motifs of, for example, stalks of wheat, wildflowers, or trees. In taking its cues from nature, the Prairie home is effortlessly timeless and balanced, and this style translates beautifully to any era.